Encodable strip attachment apparatus

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a method and apparatus for adhesively attaching a strip of encodable material adapted to receive machine decodable indicia to, and along the edge of, a document such as a check or the like, means being provided for retaining and feeding a continuous supply of the encodable material to an alignment station where the documents are aligned and tacked thereto, thereafter the material is cut into strips which are heat sealed to the document, the strip modified documents being transported into a storage bin. The entire operation is automatic, employing a sensor actuated assembly responsive to the location of the document to effect the transport, sealing, and cutting. Rotatably driven, sensor controlled, feed wheels automatically input the documents to the alignment station.

United States Patent [191 Crouse et al.

Assignee:

Filed:

ENCODABLE STRIP ATTACHMENT APPARATUS Inventors: Ronald J. Crouse, Richardson;

Thomas'Q. LeBrun, Dallas; Floyd E. Sill, Richardson; Merle J. Volding, Dallas, all of Tex.

U.S. Cl 156/522; 156/566 Int. Cl

Field of Search 156/522, 250, 256, 251,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Valtat 156/522 Masse.... 156/250 Dirks 156/250 Jaeckel 156/556 [4 1 July 29,1975

Primary ExaminerDouglas J. Drummond Attorney, Agent, or FirmKenneth R. Glaser [57] ABSTRACT Disclosed is a method and apparatus for adhesively attaching a stripof encodable material adapted to receive machine decodable indicia to, and along the edge of, a document such as a check or the like, means being provided for retaining and feeding a continuous supply of the encodable material to an alignment station where the documents are aligned and tacked thereto, thereafter the material is cut into strips which are heat sealed to the document, the strip modified documents being transported into a storage bin. The entire operation is automatic, employing a sensor actuated assembly responsive to the location of the document to effect the transport, sealing, and cutting. Rotatably driven, sensor controlled, feed wheels automatically input the documents to the alignment station.

49 Claims, 17 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJULEQIHYS 3,897, 299

ShEET 1 l JOHN DOE 1001 y 100 K. STREET NEW YORK, N.Y. d s l9 zZ /i r ihe i order of M g RTE/L l Win/1, M DOLLARS BANK NAME 2 fo A i HUG -BE N?! mu uu i IH'LEW'EEEH'M "mun-gu a SHEET PATENTED JUL 2 91975 SHEET FIG. 4

PATENTED JUL2 9 I975 SHEET PATENTEDJULZQ I975 FIG. IOA

PATENTEDJUL29I975 3.897, 299

SHEET 9 TRANSPORT ASSEMBLY 80 AC TUATED\ BRAKE 59 DISENGAGED GAP 73 POS'T'ONED DOCUMENT INSERTED CUTTER 7! SEVERS ENCODABLE ENGAGEMENT 0F HEATER ASSEMBEIES 63 AND 75 PATENTEU JUL29 575 SWEET ENCODABLE STRIP ATTACHMENT APPARATUS The present invention relates generally to the automatic processing of commercial instruments, more particularly to the automatic processing of transfer of fund type instruments such checks, credit card receipts, and the like having machine readable indicia thereon, and even more particularly to a method and apparatus for attaching a discrete strip of encodable material to such instruments to enable theiriautomatic processing.

It is well known that the last several years have witnessed a vast proliferation of transfer of fund instruments, such as checks, drafts, credit card receipts, and other commercial documents and the like, employed by banks and other large commercial institutions. In order to keep pace with this increase, encoded indicia has been disposed upon a face of these documents; and sophisticated equipment implemented to decode the indicia and automatically handle, sort, and process these documents,in accordance with the decoded information.

Although this approach has generally served the purpose of increasing the efficiency of handling and processing these documents it has not been entirely without difficulty. For example, despite the best efforts of those handling the instruments, many of the documents are often defaced, mutilated, improperly encoded, or otherwise rendered unsuitable for processing, and will consequently be rejected by the automatic equipment. To overcome these difficulties, various solutions have been devised for repairing or modifying the instruments to enable their automatic processing, one such solution being the attachment of a strip of encodable material to the unprocessable document, the new encodable strip then providing an additional area for receiving new encoded indicia identical to the mutilated or otherwise undecodable indicia on the document. The so modified document can be then processed by the automatic equipment. Additionally, the attached strip provides an area for receiving encoded indicia in addition to, or dissimilar from, the encoded indicia on the document. Prior to the present invention, however, the encodable strip had to be manually applied to the docu ment or by means of apparatus which is cumbersome or does not afford the requisite alignment of the encodable strip with the document.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for attaching encodable material to a document.

It is another object of the present invention to provide apparatus which automatically aligns and attaches a strip of encodable material with atransfer of fund type instrument in a manner that enables the subsequent automatic processing of the instrument in accordance with machine decodable indicia upon the strip.

It is even still a further object of the invention to provide new and improved encodable strip attachment apparatus including uniquely designed assemblies for aligning and attaching a heat activatable thermoplastic adhesive bearing strip todefaced. mutilated. improperly encoded, or otherwise unprocessable checks, as well as for transporting the encodable material. checks. and strip modified checks through the overall apparatus.

In accordance with these and, other objects. the following is a detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, including specific features thereof, the description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts, and in which: 7

FIGS. 1 and 2 are illustrations of a check type document with a discrete strip of encodable material having been attached thereto in accordance with the process and apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a pictorial illustration of the front view of the encodable strip attachmentapparatus of the present invention; I

FIG. 4 is a pictorial illustration of the rear view of the encodable stri p attachment apparatus of the present invention; v

FIG. 5 is an orthographic view of the front compartment of the apparatus depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4, illustrating the principal functions of the apparatus;

FIG. 6A and 6B illustrate the specific details of the subassembly disposed at the encodable material supply station;

FIG. 7 illustrates, in detail, the unique features of the document alignment assembly of the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates, in detail, the unique features of the final sealing assembly of the apparatus of the present invention;

FIGS. 9 and 9A illustrate, in detail, the unique features of the cutter assembly of the apparatus of the present invention; i

FIGS. 10 and 10A illustrate, in detail, the unique features of the output assembly of the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 11 illustrates the advancement of the encodable material and the documents through the overall encodable strip attachment apparatus of the present invention by the respective encodable material and document transport assemblies; 7

FIG. 12 is an isometric view of a uniquely designed cam shaft assembly, and related parts, for effecting the desired operation of the apparatus;

FIG. 13 is a representation of the summary of the operation of the cam shaft assembly; and

FIG. 14 is a preferred embodiment of an automatic document feeder to be employed in conjunction with the encodable strip attachment apparatus of the present invention. 7

Referring now to the drawings, and initially to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, a document 25 is depicted with a discrete strip 5 of encodable material having been attached thereto by the apparatus of the presentinvention. For convenience of illustration, the document 25 is depicted as a conventional bank check, but it is to be. understood that the document may also be any type of commercial instrument used in the transfer of funds, for example deposit slips, credit card receipts, billing slips, etc. As used throughout the following description, the term document" means and refers to an instrument, generally rectangular shaped, normally having a set of encoded indicia disposed on the face of the instrument along an edge thereof, which encoded indicia is employed in the automatic handling and processing of the instrument for such operations as reading, sorting, data processing, etc.

The check 25 includes a front face I upon which is normally disposed characteristic information such as the bank name, account style, check number, etc. Disposed adjacent a longitudinal edge4 of the document is a set of encoded indicia 2 normally representing the routing symbol, transit number, account number, check amount. or the like. This encoded indicia. ordinarily in the form of magnetic ink characters referred to as MICR, is adapted to be scanned or read" by apparatus presently on the market and designed for this purpose. Frequently, the encoded indicia 2 is defectively printed, or the check itself so mutilatedor damaged at this area, that the check cannot be automatically processed. Thus, in this instance, the strip of encodable material provides an additional area for receiving a second set of encoded indicia 3 identical to that of the defective or unprocessable indicia 2 but in a form suitable to enable the automatic processing of the check. Alternatively, irrespective of the condition of the check indicia 2, the strip 5 may provide an area for receiving encoded indicia in addition to, or dissimilar from, the check indicia.

Various types of encodable strips 5 may be utilized for attachment to the document 25 by the strip attachment apparatus of the present invention. In accordance with a preferred form of construction, however, the strip is formed as an essentially rectangular band portion 6 for receiving the encoded indicia 3, and a laminated layer 7 for attaching the band 6 to the document. The layer 7 has a thickness (desirably l./1000 of an inch or less) substantially less than the thickness of the portion 6 (normally 3/1000 of an inch) and includes a segment 7a which extends beyond the longitudinal edge 6a of the band 6. The surface 7a contains a heat activatable thermoplastic adhesive 8 which, when heated, enables the adhesion of this surface to the back 9 of the check. The use of this heat activatable adhesive, therefore, provides a completely tack-free surface until subjected to the requisite heat which thus not only avoids the premature adhesion of the strip, but provides an encodable attachment which is essentially impervious to humidity.

Furthermore, the stepped configuration" of the strip 5 enables its attachment to the document 25 so that the longitudinal edge 6a of the encodable band portion 6 is essentially in edge abutting relationship with the longitudinal edge 4 of the check, the extension 7a being in face-to-face sealing contact with the back 9 of the document. Thus, it can be observed that the add-on thickness to the document is essentially limited to the thickness of the adhesive bearing portion 7, the encodable band 6 being substantially coplanar with the face 1 of the document.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the encodable strip attachment apparatus incorporating the features of the present invention is disposed within a housing 10 comprising front panel 11, end panels 12, upper rear panel 13, and lower rear panel 14.

Situated within the confines of this housing, and mounted generally parallel to the inclined edges 12a of panels 12, is a mounting plate 15 which divides the interior of the housing into front and rear compartments 16 and 17, respectively.

As indicated broadly in FIGS. 3 and 5, the front compartment 16 is functionally divided into areas respectively defining a supply station 18 in which a supply of encodable material in a continuous or ribbon form is disposed; an alignment station 19 in which the documents 25 are uniquely aligned with, and partially attached to, the encodable material; a final sealing sta tion 20 in which the encodable material in its discrete strip form is adhesively sealed to each document: and

4 an output station 21 at which the strip modifieddocuments are stacked.

Referring back to FIG. 3, a door 22 having handle 22a is hingedly mounted at the front of the housing 10 for alternatively closing off, or allowing access to, the

documents 25 are inserted. This insertion may be cffected manually or, in accordance with a subsequently described embodiment, automatically. Adjacent the panel 26 and hingedly mounted in any suitable manner (not shown) at the top of the housing 10 is a door 28 having handle 28a to enable operator access to the area or station 20. A document storage bin 29, the unique details of which are subsequently described, is disposed at the output station 21 and below a heating and transport assembly housing 30, a passageway 31 providing document transport communication between the slot 27 and the bin 29. v

The rear compartment 17 (FIG. 4) houses the electronic controls and various mechanical drive assemblies for operating the strip attachment apparatus, the details of which will be subsequently described. Hingedly mounted adjacent the lower rear panel 14 is a door 33 (having locking means 34) to enable operator access to this rear compartment. The locking mechanism 34 is adapted to engage a portion of a frame assembly 35 to secure the door 33 adjacent the top rear panel 13, the panel 13 extending forward the mounting plate 15 adjacent panel 26 and door 28.

A conventional power cord 36 electrically connects with the apparatus through the panel 14. Control buttons 32 for the operation of the apparatus may be located on the front panel 11 for convenient operator access thereto.

Referring now 'to FIG. 5, a continuous spool or roll 44 of the encodable strip material (which is wound about a cylindrical core 43 of plastic or the'like) is dis posed at the supply station 18 on a pay-out reel 40. The reel 40 has an integrally coupled axle 41 extending through the mounting plate 15 and journaled for rotation in a bearing 46 (FIG. 6A), a hub 42 secured to the forwardly extending portion of the axle 41 adapted .to receive and grip the roll core 43 in a manner which prevents the latters rotation thereon. As subsequently described, the reel 40 (and consequently spool 44), when freed for rotation, revolves in the direction illustrated by arrows 39 as the encodable material (designated in its continuous ribbon form by the reference numeral 45) is pulled off the spool. I

Guide rollers and 51 are mounted to the plate 15 by way of, and'are adapted to freely turn about, shafts 50a and 510, respectively. Additionally, an intermediate guide roller 53 is mounted by way of, and adapted to freely rotate about, a shaft 53a rigidly coupled through a slot in plate 15 to the end portion of a pivotally mounted spring biased feed arm 54 (FIG. 6A),

the pivotal movement of arm 54, as subsequently de-- scribed, translating the roller 53 along an arcuate path defined by the slot 55. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the continuous ribbon'45 passes from the roll 44 over the guide I roller 50, under the guide roller 53, and thereafter over the guide roller 51 to a document alignment assembly 60 located at the alignment station 19.

The document alignment assembly 60 comprises a slot insertion assembly 61 (including friction wheels 65) for fully inserting into the slot 27 documents 25 which are initially placed (manually or automatically) therein, each document being uniquely aligned with the ribbon 45; a first heater assembly 63 (including heater 68) for mateably securing a portion of the document 25 with the ribbon 45 for subsequent transport through the remainder of the strip attachment apparatus; and a document translation assembly 62 (including cooperating wheels 66 and 67) for translating the documents 25 into that portion of the transport passageway 31 adjacent the heater assembly 63.

Disposed between the alignment station 19 and final sealing station is a cutter assembly 70 which not only severs the ribbon 45 into discrete strips (the strips 5 depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2), but also provides selective blockage of the passageway 31 during the operating cycle of the apparatus.

Situated at the station 20 is a final sealing assembly 37 comprising a second heater assembly 75 (including heater 76) for securing each strip 5 to the document; and respective document guide and encodable strip guide assemblies 120 and 125 (FIG. 8), the document transport passageway 31 extending through the document guide assembly 120 over and in alignment with a strip transport passageway 128 (FIG. 8) extending through the strip guide assembly 125.

Translation of the encodable material (and consequently the attached documents from the document alignment assembly to and through the strip attachment assembly is effected by a transport assembly 80 comprising cooperating sets of rollers (81 and 81a), (82 and 82a), and (83 and 83a), the details and operation of which are subsequently described.

Situated at the output station 21 (FIG. 5) is the storage bin 29 for receiving and stacking the encodable strip modified documents, an output transport assembly 95, including cooperating feed rollers 96 and 97, and a deflector assembly 98 cooperating to direct the encodable strip modified documents from the final sealing assembly 37 into the stacking bin 29.

There is now described, in greater detail, the unique features of the various subassemblies of the overall encodable strip attachment apparatus. Accordingly, and with attention initially directed to the supply station 18, regulation of the feeding of the ribbon 45 of the encodable material to the document alignment assembly 60 is effected, in large part, by the feed arm 54 which not only maintains the required tension on the loop 45, but additionally releases the reel for rotation when additional encodable material is to be supplied or fed to the document alignment station.

The feed arm 54 (FIGS. 6A and 6B) is pivotally mounted at an end portion 54a to the plate 15, the intermediate guide roller 53 thus being constrained for movement along slot 55- between an upper position (depicted in FIG. 6B and by the dashed line representation in FIG. 5) and a lower position (depicted in FIG. 6A and the solid line representation in FIG. 5). The arm 54, having an extension 56, is biased toward the lower position by a spring 49, which thus maintains the required tension on the loop of material passing about roller 53. l

The reel 40 (and consequently spool 44) is normally restrained from rotation by a braking mechanism 47 (FIGS. 6A and 6B). This brake mechanism includes disc 47a rigidly coupled to the end of the shaft 41; a bar 470 pivotally mounted at 48; a friction band 4712 surrounding disc 47a and having its ends coupled to the bar 470, the band 47b being frictionally engaged with, or disengaged from, the disc 47a in response to the pivotal movement of bar 47c; and a solenoid 47d having a plunger 47e selectively actuated to effect the pivotal movement of the bar 476. Actuation of the solenoidis in response to;the extension 56 being pivoted into engagement with a sensor 57 electrically coupled (by means not shown) to solenoid coil 47d.

Thus, it can be observed that when the solenoid plunger 47e is in its extended position (shown in FIG; 6A), the bar 470 is pivoted by a spring 47f to tighten the band 47b around the disc 47a, thereby restraining the reel 40 against rotation. When the reel 40 is in this so restrained condition, the arm 54 is disposed at the lower portion of the slot 55, as shown in FIG. 6A. When the encodable material is advanced (by the transport assembly in accordance with the operation subsequently described), the arm 54 is consequently pivoted by the pull of the material 45 toward the station 19 to the position illustrated in FIG. 6B, the loop of ma terial 45 assuming the shape and path shown by the dashed line configuration in FIG. 5. As a consequence of this pivotal rotation of the arm 54, the extension 56 is caused to pivot into engagement with the sensor 57, energizing the solenoid to retract plunger 47e and pivot the bar 470 into the position shown in FIG. 6B. The friction band 471) is thus released from the disc 47a, and the reel 40 (consequently roll 44) is free to rotate in the direction of arrows 39. A new supply of encodable material is consequently pulled from the roll 44, the resulting slack allowing the arm 54 (and roller 53) to return to the position depicted in FIG. 6A (and by the solid line depiction in FIG. 5). Throughout this operation, the tension is maintained in the material 45 as a consequence of'the bias on the arm 54 established by the spring 49. i

The alignment of the encodable strip material with each document 25, and specifically the encodable band portion 6 (FIGS. 1 and 2) at, and in abutting relationship with, the document edge 4, is initially effected in the document alignment assembly 60. Referring now to FIG. 7, the document alignment assembly includes an alignment guide provided by upper and lower respective guide portions 101 and 102 for maintaining the documents and ribbon 45 in the required aligned relationship. Upper guide 101 is mounted flush with the plate 15 adjacent the alignment panel 26; and lower guide portion 102 is secured to the plate 15 by way of brackets 103, the'upper and lower guides spaced from one another in a manner to define therebetween the insertion slot 27 and the upstream portion 31a of the transport passageway 31 which is in communication with slot 27.

The upper guide portion 101 has a first ledge 104 defining the base of the slot 27; a second ledge 105 having a cut-out 106 in which the guide roller 51 is disposed; and a guide surface 107 coextensive with. and perpendicular to. the ledges 104 and 105. The ledges 104 and 105, and the transverse surface 107 extend the entire length of the upper guide 101, and thus provide the means for establishing the necessary alignment of the document with the encodable material ribbon 45 as each document is translated from its location at the slot insertion assembly 61 toits location adjacent the heater assembly 63. The ledge 105 has a lip extension 109 ad: jacent the heater assembly 63 which defines a channel or passageway 112 through which the material 45 passes. The lower guide portion 102 has an extension 119 providing a flat guide surface upon which the back surface 9 of document 25 is supported as the document is translated from the slot 27 into the portion 31a of passageway 31 adjacent the heater 68. The forward edge of this extension 119 rests upon the ledge 104.

As indicated in FIG. 7, the ribbon 45 of encodable material is disposed within the alignment assembly 60 in such a manner that the main encodable band portion thereof (corresponding to the portion 6 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2) is positioned along the surface 107 and supported at its edge by the ledge 105, the adhesive bearing extension portion (corresponding to the portion 7a of FIGS. 1 and 2) facing the slot 27. In accordance with a unique feature thereof, the width of the surface 107 is essentially equal to the width of the encodable band portion 6, only the segment 7a thereby being positioned in face-to-face relationship with the surface 9 of the document 25 adjacent the lower edge 4 (FIG. 1) thereof when the document is fully within the slot 27, its edge 4 being supported by ledge 104.

Openings 108 are provided within the upper guide 101 to enable the slot insertion assembly friction wheels 65 to extend into slot 27, the rotation of these wheels effective to fully insert the documents 25 into slot 27 (in the direction of the arrows 64) against the ledge 104.

Respectively extending through aligned apertures 110 and 111 in the guide portions 101 and 102 at the slot 27 are rotating drive wheels 66 and cooperating idler roller 67 for translating the document 25 from its position at, and when it reaches, the base 104 of the slot 27 into the portion 310 of the passageway 31 adjacent the first heater assembly 63. An axle or shaft 67' extending through an opening in the plate pivots the idler roller 67 against the document 25 and drive wheel 66 to effect this translation. An extension 72 of the cutter assembly 70, when rotated into the blocking position shown in FIG. 7, then halts the document's translation through the passageway 31 adjacent the heater assembly 63.

The heater assembly 63 includes an electrical heater body 68 having a heat conductive extension 680 extending forward of a holder 68]; and a pair of shafts 6&- extending through openings in the plate 15 and coupled to the holder 68b. The shafts 68;- are effective, when actuated, to pivot the heater (specifically extension 68a) against the aligned document and heat activatable adhesive portion 7a and a platen 69 disposed behind.

these aligned members. As a consequence thereof, a portion (corresponding to the length of the extension 68a) of the document 25 is heat sealed or tacked at the edge 4 to the ribbon 45. Thus, further advancement of the document through the strip attachment apparatus may now be achieved by advancing the encodable material (specifically the band portion 6) itself. This atlvancement is effected at the alignment station 19 by the cooperating drive and idler rollers 83 and 83a of the overall transport assembly 80 (FlG. 5). It is again significant to note that due to the. previously described alignment operation, only the adhesive extension portion 7u of the ribbon 45 is so secured or tacked to the back of the document, the main encodable band portion 6 being disposed in edge abutting relationship with the document. The cutter 71 is then rotated so that it severs the ribbon 45 at, and flush with, the leading edge of the document 25, a more detailed description of the structural features and operation of the cutter 71 (and entire cutter assembly to follow.

Referring now to FIG. 8, the final sealing assembly 37 is depicted in greater detail. Disposed immediately adjacent the cutter assembly 70 are aligned document guide and encodable strip guide assemblies and 125, respectively. The document guide 120 comprises an upper guide portion 121 and lower guide portion 122 (FIG. 5) defining therebetween an elongated channel 31b through which each document 25 can pass. Similarly, the strip guide assembly 125 includes an upper guide portion 126 and a lower guide portion 127 defining therebetween an elongated passageway 128 having a base 1280 through which the encodable strip 5 attached to the document may pass. The document passageway 31b and strip passageway 128 are thus mutually aligned with one another as well as with the corresponding document and strip passageways 31a and 112 of the document alignment assembly 60, the channel 31b thus providing, in effect, the down-stream portion of the overall document transport passageway 31.

The guide portions 126 and 127 have a pair of aligned cut-outs longitudinally spaced from one another to enable the two sets of rotating drive and idler rollers (81, 81a and 82, 82a) to engage the strip portion 5 for advancing the document 25 attached thereto through the assembly 37. For this purpose, each of the idler rollers 81a and 82a have their respective axles or shafts 81a and 8211 (which extend through openings in the plate 15) adapted to pivot the wheels 81a and 82a against their respective cooperating drive wheels 81 and 82, thereby gripping and advancing the encodable strip and attached document.

Extending the entire length of the assembly 37 is a second heater assembly 75. This heater assembly includes an electrical heater body 76 having a heat conductive extension 76a extending forward of holder 76b and a pair of shafts 76c extending through openings in the plate 15 and coupled to the holder 76!). The shafts 76c are effective, when actuated, to pivot the heater, specifically extension 76a, against the aligned document and heat activatable adhesive portion 7a and a platen 77 extending the entire length of the alignment guides. As a consequence thereof, the encodable material which was previously tacked to the document 25 is now sealed along the entire length of the edge 4 thereof. Simultaneously with this final heat sealing operation, the cutter blade 71 of the cutter assembly 70 is rotated to sever the encodable material at the trailing edge of the document 25, thereby producing the final strip modified document depicted in FIG. 1.

Referring now to FIG. 9 and 9A, the cutter assembly 70 is illustrated, the assembly including a rotatably driven shear cutter 71 mounted adjacent a rigidly held cutting support plate 74. Desirably, the cutter 71 and plate 74 are maintained (by means not shown) at an elevated temperature, for example 120F, to facilitate the cutting operation subsequently described. The cutter 71 has an integrally coupled axle 71!) extending through and journaled for rotation in a centrally defined opening in the plate 74, the Cutter 7] being biased against the plate 74 during such rotation.

The cutter 7I a circular shaped body portion with a cutting surface 71a defined at the interior portion of a gap 73 thereof. The body of the cutter 71 also includes an extension 72 which, as previously described, can be rotated into blocking engagement with the channel 31a during the initial tacking of the document to the ribbon 45. A ledge 74a of the cutter support plate 74 supports the encodable material 45 extending thereacross, the cutter 710 being effective to sever or shear-cut the material at the edge 74(- as the body 7l is rotated by pulley in the direction illustrated by the arrow.

Referring now to FIGS. 10 and 10A, the assemblies at the output station 21 are more specifically described. Accordingly, the bin 29 for storing the strip modified documents comprises end walls 84a and 84b and a rear wall 85 having a slot 86 defined therein. A platform 87 having a shelf-like extension 87a extending out from, and transverse to, the rear wall 85 is slidably mounted in, for translation along, the slot 86, a spring 88 biasing the platform 87 toward the top of the bin 29. As the strip modified documents fall upon, and are thus stacked by, the shelf 87a, the weight of the documents counteracts the tension of the spring 88, the platform 87 thereby moving downward to receive additional strip modified documents. The shelf 87a therefore defines, in effect, the base of the storage bin 29, the height (or storage capacity) of the bin thus being continuously adjustable in response to the number of documents being inserted therein.

The insertion of the strip modified documents is effected by cooperating rollers 96 and 97 which are continuously rotated in the direction shown by the arrows thereon (FIGS. 10 and I1) and thus translate the strip modified documents from the final sealing assembly 37 against the deflector assembly 98 into the bin 29. In accordance with a unique feature hereof, the deflector assembly 98 comprises a main body portion 89 having a guide extension 89a thereof, a deflector 90 pivotally mounted to a bar 91 and biased in the forward direction depicted in FIG. 10 by a spring 92. The purpose of the spring biased pivotal extension 90 is to impel the strip modified document exiting the assembly 95 in a direction toward the side wall 841;. Accordingly, as each document begins to exit the rollers 96 and 97, the leading edge of the document is guided by the guide extension 89a against the deflector 90, thereby urging the deflector 90 to the position shown in FIG. 10A. As

the trailing edge of the document 25 then clears the rol- I lers 96 and 97, the resulting bias of the spring 92 drives the deflector 90 (and consequently document 25) back toward the side 84b ofthe bin, the document impinging thereagainst and falling upon the shelf 87a.

DESCRIPTION OF OVERALL OPERATION Referring again to the drawings, and initially to FIG. ll, there is now described the overall sequence-of operation of the encodable strip attachment apparatus. Throughout the entire operation cycle, shaft 100 is continuously driven by means (not shown) coupled thereto to rotate slot insertion wheels 65 in the direction ofthe arrows thereon. Similarly. document translation wheels 66 and 67; the drives 81 and 81a. 82 and 8211,83 and 83a ofthe encodable material transport assembly 80; and output transport drive rollers 96 and 97 are continuously rotatably driven (in the direction of arrows thereon) by means (not shown) coupled to their shafts (66', 67', 8l', 81a, etc.). 1

Prior to the insertion of a document within the, slot 27, a sufficient length of encodable material 45 has been pulled from the reel 44 by the transport assembly 80 and disposed within assembly 60 at the alignment station 19, av portion of the material 45 extending through the cutter assembly 70 to the final sealing station 20. The cutter body 71 has been rotated to a stationary position with the extension 72 disposed in front of, and blocking, the passageway 31a (FIG. 7), the material 45 extending through gap 73 thereof (against ledge 740) from channel 112 into passageway I28 (FIG. 8), the surface 128a supporting the material 45.

Additionally, the idler rollers 81a, 82a, and 83a of the encodable material transport assembly have been pivoted out of engagement with the encodable material (to the position depicted by solid lines in FIG. ll); a brake 59 has been pivoted by means connected to its shaft 58 against the ribbon 45 (to the position depicted in phantom in FIG. 11) to retain the material at the station 19; and document transport idler 67 has been pivoted out of engagement with its cooperating roller 66 (solid line representation in FIG. 11).

The insertion of a document 25 into slot 27 initiates the operating cycle of the apparatus. Specifically, the insertion of the document (position A of FIG. 11 is detected by a sensor 180 which initiates a control signal to pivot the idler roller 67 into its document engaging position (illustrated in phantom) and the document 25 is translated to a position B adjacent the heater assembly 63, the document being stopped by the extension 72 of assembly 70.

Advancement of the document to this position is detected by a sensor 181 which initiates the following sequence of events: the heater 68 (and particularly extension 68a) is pivoted to tack the document to the ribbon 45; thereafter, the cutter body 71 (particularly cutting surface 71a) is rotated to sever the material 45 flush with the leading edge of the document, the cutter body 71 continuing its rotation until its gap 73 is halted in alignment with the document and material transport passageways 31a and 112. As the gap 73 reaches its so aligned position, the brake 59 is pivoted out of engagemerit with the material 45, and simultaneously therewith, the transport assembly80 is actuated (idler rollers 81a, 82a, and 83a pivoted to their engaging position depicted in phantom in FIG. 11) to grip the encodable band 6 to transport the material 45 (and consequently the attached document 25) through the gap 73. During'this sequence, the document transport assembly 62'(rollers 66 and 67) is again disengaged.

A sensor 182 disposed at the location shown in FIG. 11 senses the trailing edge of the document as it advances through the'cutter assembly and initiates a control signal to again disengage the material transport assembly 80 and brake 59 from the ribbon 45, thereby positioning the document 25 at the second heater asembly position C in FIG. ll Thereafter, and in response to the translation ofa subsequently inserted document 25 to the position B, the'second heater 76 is pivoted (which occurs simultaneously with the pivotal advance'ment'of the first heater 68) to seal the heat activatable thermoplastic adhesive extension 70 of the encodable strip 5 along the entire edge of the document; the rotation of the cutter 71 severing the material 45 at FlRST DOCUMENT SECOND DOCUMENT Document advanced to first heating assembly 63 Encodable material tacked along portion of document edge Encodable material cut at document leading edge Document advanced to second heating assembly Encodable material sealed along entire document edge Encodable material cut at document trailing edge Strip modified document advanced to output transport assembly Document advanced to first heating assembly 63 Encodable material tacked along portion of document edge Encodable material cut at document leading edge Document advanced to second heating assembly 75 The actuation and deactuation (pivotal advancement and retraction) of the first and second heater assemblies 63 and 75; document translation assembly 62; encodable material transport assembly 80; and brake mechanism 59, as well as the rotation of the cutter assembly 70, in accordance with the previously described sequence of operation, may be effected by any conventional means. In accordance with a unique feature of the present invention, however, this function is provided by a cam shaft assembly as depicted in FIG. 12. Accordingly, the assembly comprises a cam shaft 151 adapted to be rotatably driven in the direction of the arrows 152 by a belt-driven assembly 153. Conventional clutch and brake assemblies 154 and 155 respectively provide for the shaft 151 to be so rotated or restrained from such rotation. The clutch and brake assemblies, in turn, are operated in response to sensors 181, 182 (FIG. 11). and a sensor 190 disposed at the cam shaft assembly.

The document translation idler wheel shaft 67; first heater assembly shafts 68c; brake shaft 58; second heater assembly shafts 76c; and encodable material transport assembly idler wheel shafts 81a, 82a, and 83a extend through the plate 15 and are respectively journaled for pivotal rotation by a plurality of journal members around an elongated shaft spaced from the cam shaft 151. Each of the shafts are respectively biased by spring means (not shown) in their retracted or disengaged position (shown in solid in FIG. 12). I

Coupled to a journal member extension 161 is solenoid assembly 163 which, when energized in response to a signal received from sensor 180, as previously described, is effective to pivot the shaft 67' to its document engaging position. The de-energizing of the solenoid 163, in response to a signal received from sensor 181, then allows the shaft 67' (and idler wheel 67) to return to its retracted position.

A plurality of cam plates are rigidly coupled to the cam shaft 151 and have cam surfaces 171 adapted to engage the journal member extensions 162 to pivot the shafts 68c, 58, 8311'. 761'. 82a. and 81' to their respective encodable strip engaged positions as the cam shaft 152 is rotated through its 360revolution. The

cam surfaces 171 are so shaped, and spaced around their cam plates with respect to one another. to effect this pivotal movement in the sequence corresponding to the previously described desired sequence of operation of the assemblies coupled to the shafts (heater assembly advance, strip translation, etc.) Additionally. pulley 78 coupled to the shaft 71b engages a cog rigidly coupled to the cam shaft 151, the rotation of the cam shaft consequently resulting in the rotation of the cutter 71 in the manner previously described.

Thus, as the cam shaft 151 is driven through its 360" rotational cycle, and the solenoid 163 is energized and de-en'ergized in response to the signals received from the sensors 180 and 181, the sequence of operation previously described is effected. Specifically, assume that the shaft 151 is in its initial (0) position. At this point in time, the cam surfaces 171 have engaged the journal extensions 162 coupled to shafts 81a, 82a, and 83a, and the cutter plate 71 has been rotated to its non-blocking position disposing the gap 73 in alignment with the document and encodable material passageways 31, 128,'and 112. The remainder of the cam surfaces 171 are disengaged from the journal extensions coupled to the other shafts; and the solenoid 163 is tie-energized.

As each document is thus transported through the gap 73, the sensor 182, upon sensing the trailing edge of the document, generates a signal and the cam shaft is rotated to a stationary position (say 20) past the point where the surfaces are disengaged from the extensions 162 coupled to the material transport assembly shafts. and are engaged with the extension 162 coupled to the material brake shaft 58. thus;the transport assembly 80 is deactivated, and the brake 59 is pivoted 5 into its engaging position. The insertion of a new document is then sensed by sensor 180 (FIG. 11) which energizes solenoid 163, pivoting shaft 67' (and idler wheel 67) and the document is advanced to the position where it is detected by sensor 181. The resulting signal from sensor 181 then engages clutch 154, disengages brake 155, and the shaft 151 rotates through the remainder of its cycle (from 20 to 360). the cam surfaces 17] pivoting the heater assembly shafts 68c and 76c, brake shaft 58, and material transport assembly shafts 81a, 82a, 83a into and out of their respective engaged and retracted positions. A summary of this operation is depicted in FIG. 13, which also shows the cutting operation (between the 45 and 75 positions.

for example). as the shaft 151 rotates (in direction of arrows 152) through its cycle. The sensor (FIG. 12) detects the completion of this cycle (at 360) and generates a signal to disengage clutch 154, engage brake 155, to halt the rotation of cam shaft 151 at this point.

As previously described, each document may be manually inserted into the slot 27. Alternatively, when a large volume of checks or other type documents are to be processed through the strip attachment apparatus, it is often desirable to have means for automatically feeding the documents into the slot. Accordingly, and in accordance with a preferred embodiment thereof, reference is now to FIG. 14, depicting an automatic document feeder generally referred to by reference designation 200. The automatic feeder 200 includes a supply bin 201 including side walls 202, rear wall 203, platform 204, and inclined front surface 205. The bin is mounted by any suitable means (not shown) upon the alignment panel 26 so that the inclined surface 205 is substantially aligned with a rear surface 27a of the slot 27.

A feed plate 206 is disposed within a compartment 207 defined by the rear wall 203, side walls 202, and platform 204, and has a guide block 208 coupled thereto which is slideably mounted within a slot 209 in the platform 204. The plate 206 is thus guidably translated along the platform 204, a spring 210 biasing the plate toward the inclined front surface 205.

Disposed immediately adjacent, but slightly spaced from and parallel to, the front surface 205 is a guide 215 having cross members 215a rigidly secured to the end panels 202. The spacing between the guide 215 and surface 205 is such as to enable documents 25 to be translated through a passageway 225 defined therebetween.

Disposed upon rotatably mounted shafts 220 and 221 (journaled for rotation through end panels 202) are first and second respective sets of feed rollers 222 and 223. Both of these sets of rollers are adapted to rotate in the direction of the arrows for translating each document 25 from a stack 230 disposed in front of the feed plate 206 through the passageway 225 and into the slot 27. Additionally, another shaft 240 having a third set of feed wheels 241 is journaled for rotation through end panels 202, the set of wheels 24] extending into the passageway 225 through openings 245 in the front surface 205 and adapted for rotation in the direction of the arrows thereof.

Rotation of the shafts 220, 221, and 240 (and conse quently the drive wheel sets 222, 223, and 245) is effected by a planetary gear arrangement comprising a main drive gear 260, and driven gears 261, 262, and 263 respectively coupled to the shafts 221, 220, and 240. In accordance with a unique feature thereof, the respective gear ratios between the drive gear 260 and driven gear 261 and that of the drive gear 260 and driven gear 263 is such that the speed of rotation of shaft 221 exceeds that of shaft 240. This fact, in combination with the respective directions of rotation of these shafts, prevents the simultaneous feed of more than one document 25 into the slot 27. Specifically, and as may be apparent, as a document 25' from the front of the stack 230 is fed by rollers 222 and 223 through the passageway. any documents 25" directly behind this front document are urged by the wheels 245 in a direction toward the stack. the resulting separation enabling the single feeding of one document at a time into the slot 27.

The main drive gear 260 is driven by a belt 265 which extends through an opening 266 in the panel 26 to a clutch drive (not shown) coupled to the drive shaft (FIG. 11). Engagement of the said clutch drive with the shaft 100 for driving the belt 265 is in response to a signal received from the sensor a signal received from a sensor 270 which senses the end of each check as it passes through the passageway 225 into the slot 27 disengaging the clutch. Thus, the insertion of each document into the slot 27 is coordinated with the overall operation of the strip attachment operation.

Various other modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention. may becomeapparent to persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for the attachment ofa strip of encodable material to a document, said apparatus comprising:

a. first means for retaining at a supply station a continuous supply of encodable material of the type having an encodable band portion and a heat activatable adhesive bearing portion and supplying said encodable material to an alignment station,

b. second means disposed at said alignment station for initially aligning said document with said encodable material and thereafter attaching said heat activatable adhesive bearing portion with said document along at least a portion of the length of the edge of the document,

0. third means disposed at a final sealing station for effecting the sealing of said attached adhesive bearing portion to and along the entire length of the said document edge,

d. fourth means disposed between said alignment sta-' tion and said final sealing station for severing said encodable material adjacent the leading and trailing edge of said document, thereby to produce an encodable strip modified document, and

e. fifth means disposed at an output station for transporting said encodable strip modified document into a stacking relationship with other encodable strip modified documents.

2. The apparatus as defined by claim 1 further including a first transport assembly, when actuated, for advancing the document to said alignment station, and a second transport assembly, when actuated. for advancing said encodable material and attached document from said alignment station past said fourth means to said final sealing station, said second transport assembly solely engaging said encodable band portion.

3. The apparatus as defined by claim 2 further including sixth means for automatically supplying documents to said first transport assembly.

4. The apparatus as defined by claim 1 wherein said second means comprises a guide housing defining a slot adapted to receive said document, a first longitudinally extending passageway in communication with said slot through which said document may be translatably advanced, a second longitudinally extending passageway through which said encodable material may be translatably advanced, and guide means for positioning said encodable material with said document so that the, and only the, adhesive bearing portion thereof is in face-to face relationship with the document.

5. The apparatus as defined by claim 4 wherein said second means further comprises a first heater member mounted for engagement with the so-aligned adhesive bearing portion and document to effect said attaching.

6. The apparatus as defined by claim 5 further including a first transport assembly. when actuated. for advancing the document to said alignment station, and a second transport assembly, when actuated, for advancing said encodable material and attached document from said alignment station past said fourth means to said final sealing station. said second transport assembly solely engaging said encodable band portion.

7. The apparatus as defined by claim 6 wherein said first transport assembly comprises rotatably driven wheels extending into said slot, said second transport assembly effects the translatable advancement of the encodable material through the second passageway, and further including a third transport assembly for translatably advancing the document through said first longitudinally extending passageway to a location adjacent said first heater member.

8. The apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein said third means comprises a guide housing defining a third longitudinally extending passageway in alignment with said first longitudinally extending passageway and a fourth longitudinally extending passageway in alignment with said second longitudinally extending passageway, and further including a second heater member mounted for engagement with said aligned adhesive bearing portion and said document edge to effect said sealing.

9. The apparatus as defined in claim 8 wherein said fourth means additionally includes means which is movable into and out of blocking relationship with said first and third passageways.

10. The apparatus as defined by claim 9 further including a transport assembly adapted to grip the encodable material within said fourth passageway for advancing said strip modified document through the guide housing of said third means.

11. Encodable strip attachment apparatus comprising:

a. first means for retaining at a supply station a continuous supply of encodable material of the type having an encodable band portion and an adhesive bearing portion and supplying said encodable material to an alignment station,

b. second means disposed at said alignment station for aligning a document with said encodable material and for attaching said adhesive bearing portion with said document along at least a portion of the length of the edge of the document,

c. third means disposed at a final sealing station for effecting the sealing of said attached adhesive bearing portion to and along the entire length of the said document edge.

d. fourth means disposed between said alignment station and said final sealing station for severing said encodable material adjacent the leading and trailing edge of said document. thereby to produce an encodable strip modified document. and fifth means disposed at an output station for transporting said encodable strip modified document into a stacking relationship with other encodable strip modified documents.

12. The apparatus as defined by claim ll further including a first transport assembly. when actuated. for advancing the document to said alignment station. and a second transport assembly. when actuated. for advancing said encodable material and attached document from said alignment station past said fourth means to said final sealing station, said second transport assembly solely engaging said encodable band portion.

13. The apparatus as defined by claim l2 wherein said first means comprises pay-out reel means for rotatably mounting a roll of said encodable material at said supply station. brake means for restraining said reel means against rotation. and means releasing said brake means from such restraining in response to the advancement of said encodable material.

14. The apparatus as defined by claim 13 wherein said releasing means comprises a spring biased arm effective to maintain tension in said encodable material as it is payed out from said reel, said spring biased arm being pivotally movable between a brake releasing and nonreleasing position.

15. The apparatus as defined by claim 12 wherein said fourth means comprises a shear type cutter assembly, said cutter assembly comprising a rotatably driven cutter plate having a cutting surface for severing said encodable material and a blocking extension for positioning said document for its attachment to said adhesive bearing portion, and a rigidly mounted cutter support plate having a ledge for receiving said encodable material during said severing.

16. The apparatus as defined by claim 12 further including sixth means for automatically supplying documents to said first transport assembly.

17. The apparatus as defined by claim 16 wherein the automatic supplying of said documents is in response to documents reaching said alignment station.

18. The apparatus as defined by claim 17 wherein said sixth means comprises means for preventing the simultaneous feeding of more than one document to said first transport assembly.

19. The apparatus as defined by claim 11 wherein said fifth means comprises a storage bin having shelf means for receiving said encodable strip modified documents, and transport assembly means for transporting said strip modified documents from said final sealing station into said storage bin to said.shelf means. said shelf means being vertically adjustable in response to the receipt of said strip modified documents.

20. The apparatus as defined by claim 19 wherein said fifth medans further comrises a spring biased deflector assembly for impelling said strip modified documents in a direction opposite from that imparted by said transport assembly of said fifth means.

21. Encodable strip attachment apparatus for attaching discrete strips of encodable material along the longitudinal edge of a generally rectangular shaped document. said apparatus comprising:

a. a roll of said encodable material of the type having an encodable band portion and a heat activatable adhesive bearing portion adjacent to said encodable band portion.

b. means disposed at a supply station for retaining said roll.

c. alignment guide means at an alignment station for aligning said document with said encodable mate' rial so that the heat activatable adhesive bearing portion overlaps said document at said longitudinal edge and the encodable band portion extends below the longitudinal edge.

d. heat sealing means for heating said heat activatable adhesive bearing portion solely at the location of overlap of said adhesive bearing portion with said document, and

e. means for severing said encodable material from said roll, thereby to provide said discrete strips.

22. The apparatus as defined by claim 21 wherein said heat sealing means is disposed at said alignment station.

23. The apparatus as defined by claim 22 further including second heat sealing means remote from said alignment station and transport means for transporting said document from said alignment station to said second heat sealing means, said transport means solely engaging said encodable material.

24. The apparatus as defined by claim 23 further including means for automatically supplying documents to said alignment station.

25. The apparatus as defined by claim 21 wherein said means disposed at said supply station comprises pay-out reel means for rotatably mounting said roll of said encodable material at said supply station.

26. Encodable strip attachment apparatus for attaching encodable material adjacent an edge of a document of the type having a first set of encoded indicia disposed on a front face thereof adjacent said edge, comprising:

a. a continuous supply of said encodable material of the type having a first encodable portion for receiving a second set of encoded indicia similar to the first set of encoded indicia and a second adhesive bearing portion thinner than said first encodable portion and having a segment thereof extending beyond a longitudinal edge of said first encodable portion,

b. alignment assembly means for aligning said document and said encodable material with one another, said alignment assembly means including guide means for disposing the said edge of the document in abutting relationship with the longitudinal edge of the first encodable portion and in face-toface contact with the said segment of the second adhesive bearing portion, and

e. attachment means for securing only the segment of said adhesive bearing portion to the document at the said edge thereof.

27. The apparatus as defined by claim 26 further including means for heat sealing the said adhesive bearing segment to and along the entire length of the document edge.

28. The apparatus as defined by claim 27 further including means for transporting said document said transporting means operatively advanced into engagement with only said first encodable portion of said encodable material.

29. The apparatus as defined by claim 26 further including automatic feed means for supplying documents to said alignment assembly means.

30. Apparatus for the attachment of discrete strips of encodable material along the edge of respective documents of the type having machine decodable indicia disposed at said edge, said encodable material being of the type having a first elongated encodable band portion and a second heat activatable adhesive bearing portion adjacent to. and extending beyond, the edge of said elongated band portion. said apparatus comprising:

a supply station, an alignment station, a sealing station, and an output storage station,

a roll of said encodable material rotatably mounted at said supply station for providinga continuous supply of said encodable material to said alignment station, and means regulating the supply of said material from said roll to saidalignment station,

an alignment assembly disposed at said alignment station, said alignment assembly comprising a first guide housing defining a-slot adapted to receive each of said documents, a document transport passageway in communication with, and longitudinally extending from, said slot, an encodable material transport passageway coextensive with said document transport passageway, and guide means for aligning the edge of said document in abutting relationship'with said edge of said encodable band portion and in face-to-face relationship with said adhesive bearing extension portion; means for fully inserting documents into said slot; first heating means, when actuated, for engaging said aligned document edge and adhesive bearing portion for activating said heat activatable adhesive to attach said document to said encodable material; and means for transporting documents from said slot through said document transport passageway to said first heating means,

a sealing assembly disposed at said sealing station, said sealing assembly comprising a second guide housing defining a document transport passageway and encodable material transport passageway respectively aligned with the document transport passageway and encodable material transport passageway of said alignment assembly; and second heating means, when actuated, for engaging and sealing the adhesive bearing portion along the entire said edge of the document,

a rotatably driven cutter assembly disposed between said alignment assembly and said sealing assembly, said cutter assembly having means for severing said encodable material at either the forward or leading edge of said document and for selectively blocking the document transport passageway .of said first guide housing from the document transport passageway of said second guide housing to position said document at said first heating means location,

an encodable material transport assembly, when actuated, for advancing said document from said alignment assembly to and through said sealing assembly and for simultaneously supplying encodable material from said roll to said alignment station, said transport assembly engaging only said encodable material,

control means for sequentially actuating said first and second heating means and said encodable material transport assembly in response to the location of said document, and

means disposed at said output storage station for transporting the strip attached documents from said sealing assembly into stacked relationship with one another.

31. The apparatus as defined by claim 30 further inq cluding means for automatically supplying said docu- 

1. APPARATUS FOR THE ATTACHMENT OF A STRIP OF ENCODABLE MATERIAL TO A DOCUMENT, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING: A. FIRST MEANS FOR RETAINING AT A SUPPLY STATION A CONTINOUS SUPPLY OF ENCODABLE MATERIAL OF THE TYPE HAVING AN ENCODABLE BAND PORTION AND A HEAT ACTIVATABLE ADHESIVE BEARING PORTION AND SUPPLYING SAID ENCODABLE MATERIAL TO AN ALIGNMENT STATION, B. SECOND MEANS DIPOSED AT SAID ALIGNMENT STATION FOR INITIALLY ALIGNING SAID DOCUMENT WITH SAID ENCODABLE MATERIAL AND THEREAFTER ATTACHING SAID HEAT ACTIVATABLE ADHESIVE BEARING PORTION WITH SAID DOCUMENT ALONG AT LEAST A PORTION OF THE LENGTH OF THE EDGE OF THE DOCUMENT, C. THIRD MEANS DISPOSED AT A FINAL SEALING STATION FOR EFFECTING THE SEALING OF SAID ATTACHED ADHESIVE BEARING PORTION TO AND ALONG THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE SAID DOCUMENT EDGE, D. FOURTH MEANS DIPOSED BETWEEN SAID ALIGNMENT STATION AND SAID FINAL SEALING STATION FOR SERVERING SAID ENCODABLE MATERIAL ADJACENT THE LEADING AND TRAILING EDGE OF SAID DOCUMENT, THEREBY TO PRODUCE AN ENCODABLE STRIP MODIFIED DOCUMENT, AND E. FIFTH MEANS DIPOSED AT AN OUTPUT STATION FOR TRANSPORTING SAID ENCODABLE STRIP MODIFIED DOCUMENT INTO A STACKING RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER ENCODABLE STRIP MODIFIED DOCUMENTS.
 2. The apparatus as defined by claim 1 further including a first transport assembly, when actuated, for advancing the document to said alignment station, and a second transport assembly, when actuated, for advancing said encodable material and attached document from said alignment station past said fourth means to said final sealing station, said second transport assembly solely engaging said encodable band portion.
 3. The apparatus as defined by claim 2 further including sixth means for automatically supplying documents to said first transport assembly.
 4. The apparatus as defined by claim 1 wherein said second means comprises a guide housing defining a slot adapted to receive said document, a first longitudinally extending passageway in communication with said slot through which said document may be translatably advanced, a second longitudinally extending passageway through which said encodable material may be translatably advanced, and guide means for positioning said encodable material with said document so that the, and only the, adhesive bearing portion thereof is in face-to-face relationship with the document.
 5. The apparatus as defined by claim 4 wherein said second means further comprises a first heater member mounted for engagement with the so-aligned adhesive bearing portion and document to effect said attaching.
 6. The apparatus as defined by claim 5 further including a first transport assembly, when actuated, for advancing the document to said alignment station, and a second transport assembly, when actuated, for advancing said encodable material and attached document from said alignment station past said fourth means to said final sealing station, said second transport assembly solely engaging said encodable band portion.
 7. The apparatus as defined by claim 6 wherein said first transport assembly comprises rotatably driven wheels extending into said slot, said second transport assembly effects the translatable advancement of the encodable material through the second passageway, and further including a third transport assembly for translatably advancing the document through said first longitudinally extending passageway to a location adjacent said first heater member.
 8. The apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein said third means comprises a guide housing defining a third longitudinally extending passageway in alignment with said first longitudinally extending passageway and a fourth longitudinally extending passageway in alignment with said second longitudinally extending passageway, and further including a second heater member mounted for engagement with said aligned adhesive bearing portion and said document edge to effect said sealing.
 9. The apparatus as defined in claim 8 wherein said fourth means additionally includes means which is movable into and out of blocking relationship with said first and third passageways.
 10. The apparatus as defined by claim 9 further including a transport assembly adapted to grip the encodable material within said fourth passageway for advancing said strip modified document through the guide housing of said third means.
 11. Encodable strip attachment apparatus comprising: a. first means for retaining at a supply station a continuous supply of encodable material of the type having an encodable band portion and an adhesive bearing portion and supplying said encodable material to an alignment station, b. second means disposed at said alignment station for aligning a document with said encodable material and for attaching said adhesive bearing portion with said document along at least a portion of the length of the edge of the document, c. third means disposed at a final sealing station for effecting the sealing of said attached adhesive bearing portion to and along the entire length of the said document edge, d. fourth means disposed between said alignment station and said final sealing station for severing said encodable material adjacent the leading and trailing edge of said document, thereby to produce an encodable strip modified document, and e. fifth means disposed at an output station for transporting said encodable strip modified document into a stacking relationship with other encodable strip modified documents.
 12. The apparatus as defined by claim 11 further including a first transport assembly, when actuated, for advancing the document to said alignment station, and a second transport assembly, when actuated, for advancing said encodable material and attached document from said alignment station past said fourth means to said final sealing station, said second transport assembly solely engaging said encodable band portion.
 13. The apparatus as defined by claim 12 wherein said first means comprises pay-out reel means for rotatably mounting a roll of said encodable material at said supply station, brake means for restraining said reel means against rotation, and means releasing said brake means from such restraining in response to the advancement of said encodable material.
 14. The apparatus as defined by claim 13 wherein said releasing means comprises a spring biased arm effective to maintain tension in said encodable material as it is payed out from said reel, said spring biased arm being pivotally movable between a brake releasing and nonreleasing position.
 15. The apparatus as defined by claim 12 wherein said fourth means comprises a shear type cutter assembly, said cutter assembly comprising a rotatably driven cutter plate having a cutting surface for severing said encodable material and a blocking extension for positioning said document for its attachment to said adhesive bearing portion, and a rigidly mounted cutter support plate having a ledge for receiving said encodable material during said severing.
 16. The apparatus as defined by claim 12 further including sixth means for automatically supplying documents to said first transport assembly.
 17. The apparatus as defined by claim 16 wherein the automatic supplying of said documents is in response to documents reaching said alignment station.
 18. The apparatus as defined by claim 17 wherein said sixth means comprises means for preventing the simultaneous feeding of more than one document to said first transport assembly.
 19. The apparatus as defined by claim 11 wherein said fifth means comprises a storage bin having shelf means for receiving said encodable strip modified documents, and transport assembly means for transporting said strip modified documents from said final sealing station into said storage bin to said shelf means, said shelf means being vertically adjustable in response to the receipt of said strip modified documents.
 20. The apparatus as defined by claim 19 wherein said fifth medans further comrises a spring biased deflector assembly for impelling said strip modified documents in a direction opposite from that imparted by said transport assembly of said fifth means.
 21. Encodable strip attachment apparatus for attaching discrete strips of encodable material along the longitudinal edge of a generally rectangular shaped document, said apparatus comprising: a. a roll of said encodable material of the type having an encodable band portion and a heat activatable adhesive bearing portion adjacent to said encodable band portion, b. means disposed at a supply station for retaining said roll, c. alignment guide means at an alignment station for aligning said document with said encodable material so that the heat activatable adhesive bearing portion overlaps said document at said longitudinal edge and the encodable band portion extends below the longitudinal edge, d. heaT sealing means for heating said heat activatable adhesive bearing portion solely at the location of overlap of said adhesive bearing portion with said document, and e. means for severing said encodable material from said roll, thereby to provide said discrete strips.
 22. The apparatus as defined by claim 21 wherein said heat sealing means is disposed at said alignment station.
 23. The apparatus as defined by claim 22 further including second heat sealing means remote from said alignment station and transport means for transporting said document from said alignment station to said second heat sealing means, said transport means solely engaging said encodable material.
 24. The apparatus as defined by claim 23 further including means for automatically supplying documents to said alignment station.
 25. The apparatus as defined by claim 21 wherein said means disposed at said supply station comprises pay-out reel means for rotatably mounting said roll of said encodable material at said supply station.
 26. Encodable strip attachment apparatus for attaching encodable material adjacent an edge of a document of the type having a first set of encoded indicia disposed on a front face thereof adjacent said edge, comprising: a. a continuous supply of said encodable material of the type having a first encodable portion for receiving a second set of encoded indicia similar to the first set of encoded indicia and a second adhesive bearing portion thinner than said first encodable portion and having a segment thereof extending beyond a longitudinal edge of said first encodable portion, b. alignment assembly means for aligning said document and said encodable material with one another, said alignment assembly means including guide means for disposing the said edge of the document in abutting relationship with the longitudinal edge of the first encodable portion and in face-to-face contact with the said segment of the second adhesive bearing portion, and c. attachment means for securing only the segment of said adhesive bearing portion to the document at the said edge thereof.
 27. The apparatus as defined by claim 26 further including means for heat sealing the said adhesive bearing segment to and along the entire length of the document edge.
 28. The apparatus as defined by claim 27 further including means for transporting said document said transporting means operatively advanced into engagement with only said first encodable portion of said encodable material.
 29. The apparatus as defined by claim 26 further including automatic feed means for supplying documents to said alignment assembly means.
 30. Apparatus for the attachment of discrete strips of encodable material along the edge of respective documents of the type having machine decodable indicia disposed at said edge, said encodable material being of the type having a first elongated encodable band portion and a second heat activatable adhesive bearing portion adjacent to, and extending beyond, the edge of said elongated band portion, said apparatus comprising: a supply station, an alignment station, a sealing station, and an output storage station, a roll of said encodable material rotatably mounted at said supply station for providing a continuous supply of said encodable material to said alignment station, and means regulating the supply of said material from said roll to said alignment station, an alignment assembly disposed at said alignment station, said alignment assembly comprising a first guide housing defining a slot adapted to receive each of said documents, a document transport passageway in communication with, and longitudinally extending from, said slot, an encodable material transport passageway coextensive with said document transport passageway, and guide means for aligning the edge of said document in abutting relationship with said edge of said encodable band portion and in face-to-face relationship with said adhesive bearing extension portion; means for fully inserting documents into said slot; first heating means, when actuated, for engaging said aligned document edge and adhesive bearing portion for activating said heat activatable adhesive to attach said document to said encodable material; and means for transporting documents from said slot through said document transport passageway to said first heating means, a sealing assembly disposed at said sealing station, said sealing assembly comprising a second guide housing defining a document transport passageway and encodable material transport passageway respectively aligned with the document transport passageway and encodable material transport passageway of said alignment assembly; and second heating means, when actuated, for engaging and sealing the adhesive bearing portion along the entire said edge of the document, a rotatably driven cutter assembly disposed between said alignment assembly and said sealing assembly, said cutter assembly having means for severing said encodable material at either the forward or leading edge of said document and for selectively blocking the document transport passageway of said first guide housing from the document transport passageway of said second guide housing to position said document at said first heating means location, an encodable material transport assembly, when actuated, for advancing said document from said alignment assembly to and through said sealing assembly and for simultaneously supplying encodable material from said roll to said alignment station, said transport assembly engaging only said encodable material, control means for sequentially actuating said first and second heating means and said encodable material transport assembly in response to the location of said document, and means disposed at said output storage station for transporting the strip attached documents from said sealing assembly into stacked relationship with one another.
 31. The apparatus as defined by claim 30 further including means for automatically supplying said documents to the slot of said alignment assembly.
 32. The apparatus as defined by claim 30 wherein said control means comprises a rotatably driven cam shaft having cam surfaces disposed along said shaft in such a manner as to effect such sequential actuation.
 33. The apparatus as defined by claim 30 wherein said means regulating the supply of said material from said roll comprises a pivotally mounted feed arm, brake means respectively actuated and deactuated for preventing and allowing said roll to be rotated, the pivotal movement of said feed arm effecting such actuation and deactuation.
 34. The apparatus as defined by claim 33 further including means for forming said continuous supply into a loop, and said feed arm is spring biased to maintain tension in said loop.
 35. The apparatus as defined by claim 30 wherein the guide means of said first guide housing comprises a first ledge defining the base of the said slot, a surface transverse to, and coextensive with, said first ledge, means disposing said encodable material against said transverse surface, the width of the said transverse surface being essentially equal to the width of the said encodable band portion.
 36. The apparatus as defined by claim 35 wherein said means for fully inserting the documents into said slot comprises a plurality of friction wheels rotatably driven in a direction to effect said full insertion.
 37. The apparatus as defined by claim 36 wherein said first heating means is pivoted into said engagement with the aligned document edge and adhesive bearing portion.
 38. The apparatus as defined by claim 30 wherein the second heating means is pivotally movable into said engaging and sealing relationship.
 39. The apparatus as defined by claim 30 wherein said rotatably driven cutter assembly comprises a rotatably driven shear cutter mounted adjacent a rigidly held cutting support plate, the shear cutter having an integrally coupled axle extending through And journaled for rotation in said cutting support plate, the shear cutter being biased against the plate during such rotation.
 40. The apparatus as defined by claim 39 wherein said cutting support plate has a ledge against which the encodable material is disposed during said severing.
 41. The apparatus as defined by claim 40 wherein said cutter assembly further has means for heating said shear cutter and said support plate.
 42. The apparatus as defined by claim 30 wherein the means disposed at said output storage station comprises a bin having a storage compartment defined by a pair of end walls, a rear wall, and a platform type base for receiving said strip attached documents, the platform type base being vertically adjustable in response to the weight of the strip attached documents thereupon.
 43. The apparatus as defined by claim 42 wherein said means disposed at said output storage station furthermore includes a deflector assembly at the entrance to said bin.
 44. The apparatus as defined by claim 43 wherein said deflector assembly comprises a main body portion having a guide extension thereof, and a deflector pivotally mounted thereto and biased in a direction toward one of the end walls of said bin.
 45. The apparatus as defined by claim 32 wherein means are coupled to said cam shaft for rotatably driving said cutter assembly.
 46. The apparatus as defined by claim 45 wherein said first and second heating means and said encodable material transport assembly have respective shafts pivotally movable in response to engagement by said cam surfaces, and sensor means are effective to rotate and halt the rotation of said cam shaft in response to the location of said document as well as the full rotation of said cam shaft.
 47. The apparatus as defined by claim 31 wherein said automatic supply means comprises a supply bin for retaining a stack of documents to be inserted into said slot, rotatably driven feed means for translating documents from said stack into said slot, and means to prevent the simultaneous feed of more than one document from said stack.
 48. The apparatus as defined by claim 47 wherein sensor means is included for actuating said feed means when a document has been fed to said slot.
 49. The apparatus as defined by claim 48 wherein said means for preventing the simultaneous feed of more than one document from said stack comprises feed means rotatably driven in the opposite direction from said previously mentioned feed means. 